Q. Nominal Width? Say what?A: Exactly, There in lies the problem. No guy knows, and no guy is taught, the single most important part of choosing the right condom for his needs. As a consequence, lots of guys really hate condoms.

Q. Why the big secret?A: Who knows. Teaching sex-ed is embarrassing/awkward enough. Maybe the thought of acknowledging that each guy has a different size erection (both length and girth), or encouraging them to measure it, is a step too far? It also helps for the distribution of condoms if you believe that one-size-fits-all.

Q. But condoms are one-size-fits-all?A: Don't be daft. Think about it for a minute. Everything else we wear is fitted to our size requirements. Our clothes, our shoes.. even my watch-strap has several different holes in it. Not for fun, but because different guys have different sized wrists. Newsflash: it's the same with dicks. Dicks come in different sizes, so obviously condoms should too. And the range of dick sizes is MIND-BOGGLING. Lengths from just 3", all the way up to 12" (and everything in-between). Girths from 3.25", out to 8" (and everything in-between).

Q. Ah - but latex stretches! So.. one-size-fits-all?A: Not so fast. Setting aside the idea of a condom stretching to fit a bigger dick, what about the dicks that are smaller than the unstretched condom to start with? Latex doesn't shrink to fit them. So they slip, or fall off during sex.

And the big guys? Sure a condom will stretch to fit them. But the more you stretch a condom, the tighter and less comfortable it will feel. The tightness is what reduces sensation during condom sex, see? In turn this puts bigger guys off using condoms at all. And that's before we consider the implications of the increased stretching force on the risk of the condom breaking.. simply put - the more a condom stretches, the more stress it is under, the more likely it is to break during sex.

Q. Do the boobie bra thing.A: Sure. By way of analogy, we could make many less sizes of bra - say, just three.. small, medium and large. We'd just make the bra material out of something stretchy. Nylon, or elasticated cotton perhaps. We'd tell women to pick one of the 3 sizes and if that meant their bra was uncomfortable, tough luck - live with it. Women would not be very happy about that. There would probably be a riot, actually. Same deal dicks and relying-on-stretch-to-fit condoms.

Q. This is starting to make sense.A: Common reaction. Most people start off believing full-steam that condoms are one-size-fits-all. Then slowly but surely they start to realise how insane that is, for multiple reasons, including those listed above. Then it dawns on them that actually, keeping condoms as one-size-fits-all really only benefits one person - the condom manufacturer. Making many different sizes of condom is more time consuming, more difficult and more expensive. It also presents a problem distributing and selling the condoms (think of the shelf-space required.. or the fact that guys would face-to-face have to admit their dick size. Hint: selling online fixes both issues). But making more sizes is an absolute shoe-in for safety and comfort. And comfort encourages use in the first place.

Q. You should really tell Bill Gates about this. He wants to encourage condom use.A: Indeed.